Saudi man divorces wife 'by text message'

In what is claimed to be the world's first divorce by text message, a Saudi man has snapped nuptial ties with his wife by sending an SMS.

The man was in Iraq when he set the legal precedent by sending the SMS, informing his wife that she was no longer his spouse, and followed up with phone calls to his two relatives, confirming the split, the 'Arab News' reported.

A court in the Red Sea city of Jeddah finalised the split after summoning the two relatives to check whether they had received word of the husband's intention.

Saudi Arabia practises a strict form of Islamic Sharia law, under which a man could divorce his wife by simply saying "I divorce you" three times. And, the Saudi man sent the same in writing to his wife to divorce her. The Saudi man was in Iraq to participate in "what he described as 'jihad'," according to the newspaper. Many Saudis have gone to fight with al Qaeda terrorists against the Iraqi government and US forces.